1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recording media on which images can be given the feel of a silver halide photograph are commercially available. The recording media include a base paper coated with a polymer. It is known that base papers coated with a polymer have higher glossiness and water fastness than base papers alone and can prevent or reduce cockling. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-240287 discloses that the surface smoothness of a base paper coated with a polymer can be improved to manufacture a high-gloss recording medium.
There is an increasing demand for photo books and photo albums. Characteristics required for recording media for use in photo books and photo albums include image quality similar to that of silver halide photography, turnability, and opacity, which is a property of preventing an image on the back side from being seen through the front side in duplex recording. Images on a recording medium that includes a base paper coated with a polymer and an ink-receiving layer can be given the feel of a silver halide photograph. Thus, such a recording medium can be used for photo books and photo albums. The present inventors have studied a method for improving turnability and opacity of a recording medium that includes a base paper coated with a polymer and an ink-receiving layer.
In general, a method for improving the turnability of a recording medium may be a method for decreasing the rigidity of the recording medium to facilitate the deformation of the recording medium when the recording medium is turned over. In order to decrease the rigidity of the recording medium without reducing ink absorbency, the thickness of the base paper coated with a polymer may be reduced. However, a decrease in the thickness of the polymer layer may impair the degree to which the texture of the recording medium is similar to the texture of photographic paper, and recorded images cannot have the feel of silver halide photograph. A decrease in the thickness of the base paper may cause deformation or breakage of the base paper in a process of winding the base paper, resulting in poor winding of the base paper.
The present inventors found that a decrease in the thickness of the polymer-coated base paper of the recording medium described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-240287 so as to improve turnability resulted in poor winding of the base paper. This also resulted in high transparency of the recording medium, and an image on the back side was sometimes visible through the front side.